Improvement in safes



y hattet-(States anni '(t'tiliw,

Letters Patent No. 101,894, lla-tell April 4I2, 1 870.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patentand making part of the same To all whom 'it may (unicorn:v

Beit known that I, OBADIAH MAnLAND, of Boston, in the countyof Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented Improvements in Safes; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specication, is a description of my invention sui'- icient to enable those skilled inthe art to practice it.

In the patent No. '7,432 issued for my invention April 28,1868, I describe safes, the top, bottom, sides, and door of which are each madefof or with one plate,

which is composed of layers ot' iron and steel, welded together and hardened,

My present improvement consists in a safe in which the sides, top, and bottom are formed of one continuous baud of united layers ot' iron and steel, whether welded together or made of one homogeneous piece and then converted, in which band the steel is hardened insteadof being formed of four separate plates, asin my patent before 'referred to, said continuity of structure saving four joints at the corners or of; and

My said improvement further consists in a safe which has either the top, bottom, sides, back, door, and door-frame, and preferably all of them, each made of or with a singlepiece, which is iirst either all iron or steel, and is then changed by conversion into layersof ironA and steel, which are integral and blend one into the other, each piece having always two or threelayers, but generallyand preferably three, of which one layer at least is always steel, the steel layer or layers being hardened in each piece after it is fitted in all respects to shape and for attachments, and before it is finally united with 'the others to make a safe.

In the drawings illustrating an embodiment of my invention-- Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of a safe, showing the sides, top, and bottom', as' made in a band or belt, without a'seam, and of" combined layers of iron and steel.

Figure 2. is a vertical section, taken in a plane exi tending from front to rear of a safe, and exhibiting the joints of the back and door-frame with the topi,

and bottom, the joints of the back and door-frame with the sides, and the joints of the sides with thetop and bottom being like those first mentioned. Said figure also shows how said partsl are held together by. screws l), which pass through angle-irons a, placed` within the safe at theangles or corners, into the said -parts in-whioh the 'screw-holes are bored, but only partly through the thickness of said parts, and are tapped with nut-threads. The screws are preferably made of mingled iron ,and steel, and the steel hardened.

angles of the safe, and adding greatly to the strength there- Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the door-frame.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation ofthe back or rear plate of the safe.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of a safe or vaultdoor. v

In the drawings the short close hatch lines are intended to denote-where the material` is changed for conversion. For example, if the plate is iron and then packed in carbon and submitted to a suiieieut degree of heat a sufficient time, the outer parts of 4the plate shown bythe short closelhatch lines will become carbonized or steeled, and may be hardened by any of the usual processes of hardening steel. If the plate is of steel, and is then packed in oxide of iron and:

submitted to a sueient degree of heat a sucient' time, the outer parts of the plate represented by Athe short close hatch lines will lose their carbon and be reduced to soft iron which will not be hardenedby the processes that will harden the steel surioundedby the iron. Or the steel may be superficially decarbonized in any other known way.

If. the iron or steel plates are packed on but one surface with carbon or oxide respectively, then the result will be plates of but two layers,- one of iron and one of steel'. And where in the drawings the short close hatch lines are tohe understood as representing steel, the longer hatch lines, which are at greater disranges apart, are to be understood as representingiron, and cioe versa.

The plates for the top, bottom, sides, and back, and the door-frame, are made and are converted and tted together, the doorfi-ame being also fitted to receive the rebates of the door, and the bolts, dogs, and hinges thereon. Then the parts are hardened, and if warped or sprung are brought back into place by any suitable means, the soft iron in the parts retaining the impression given and preventing'the steel from springing back. f

The door-frame, when made of proper size, is couverted and wrought to fit the safe-walls and door, and

provided with hinges, and hardened, corrected, and

secured in-place.

The door is made of one plate', brought to the right size, converted, and then wrought on all its edges to fit the rebates in the door-frame, and with hinges,

dogs, and provision to receive the lock, bolts, and' weld them into a band. 1f the plate or band so formed is not made of layers of ironand steel welded together in strata, then I convert it in themannei` in which I have explained that I convertthe sides, top,

.and x in place the back and door-frame and door.

The safe described is supposed to be burglar-proof, and it may receive additions to make it fire-proof by inclosing it within suitable walls of iron or masonry containing non-conductors, and water in suitable vessels may he placed in the walls ofthe non-conducting material, or within the space of the burglar-proof safe, to be evaporated by and to absorb and carry oi the heat penetratingvto the interior,

The making of the rebates for the joints may be done before the metal is converted, in' which case the conversion will he at the joints, as represented in the drawings before mentioned; but if the conversion is eiectedwhen the" plates are brought to size merely, and then the rebates are afterward made, the condition of the metal will be as shown in Figure 6, on a scale larger than the other gures.

For lreasons obvious to safe-makers,-I prefer to convert the outside of steel plates into iron rather than to convert the outside of iron plates into steel.

I claim- -A safe or chest, any single boundary of which i's protected by one plate, of such s'ize thatl there shall be no joint through said boundary, when such plate is made of iron or steel changed supercially by conversion, and in which the steel is hardened, substantially as described.

Also, a door-frame for a safe, vault, or chest, when said frameis made in one integral piece of soft iron and hard steel,-substantially as described.

Also, a safe or chestor vault-door, made ofor protected by a plate covering the entire opening which the door controls, when said 'plate is made of iron or steel supercia-lly changed by conversion, and in which the steel is hardened, substantially` as described. j

Also, a safe or chest, the sides, top, and bottom ot which are made of .strata of combined iron and steel as a continuous hand without joints, and in which the steel is hardened. t l

OBADIAH MARLAND.

Witnesses J. B. CROSBY, FRANCIS GOULD. 

